When it comes to business IT solutions, cloud computing is unquestionably the way forward for many companies. Over the last few years, this technology has gone from being a hyped-up buzzword to a central part of the way organizations of all shapes and sizes operate.
But if you’re coming to the cloud for the first time it may seem like a minefield, with a huge range of tools and deployment options to choose from. Get it right and you can be well set for years to come, but go down the wrong route and it can be costly and time-consuming to correct your course.
One of the biggest decisions you’ll have to make is what type of cloud to go for. There are three key options here – public, private and hybrid. Each have their own pros and cons and may be better-suited to some scenarios that others.
What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing is the delivery of on-demand computing services — from applications to storage and processing power — typically over the internet and on a pay-as-you-go basis.
How does cloud computing work?
Rather than owning their own computing infrastructure or data centers, companies can rent access to anything from applications to storage from a cloud service provider.
One benefit of using cloud computing services is that firms can avoid the upfront cost and complexity of owning and maintaining their own IT infrastructure, and instead simply pay for what they use, when they use it.
In turn, providers of cloud computing services can benefit from significant economies of scale by delivering the same services to a wide range of customers.
The Options
So which cloud option fits your business the best? Let’s define the options first:
Public Cloud
If you have ever used OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive then you already have a vague idea of what a public cloud is. A service provider makes resources available over the Internet, mostly for free, to the general public. These resources include storage and applications.
The costs (or lack of costs) associated with the public cloud is one of the things that makes it attractive to especially small- to medium-sized businesses.
With many businesses looking to save costs wherever they can while still on the way up, the public cloud is effective at providing a service that is essential and at the same time not being expensive to get or maintain.
Despite cost-saving when it comes to using a public cloud solution, it may be a detrimental system once the business grows.
The free option is only available (in most cases) up until a certain size of storage and a certain amount of application. If one requires more of any part of the public cloud, the costs start to go up. And growth is inevitable with any business because of more projects and staff members.
There is no maintenance involved which means no costs in terms of staff that need to have the appropriate knowledge of cloud software. The service provider takes care of any problems that may arise and updates can be taken care of by all staff members since it is an easy, straightforward task with no skills needed.
In terms of scalability, which is the ability of software to adapt to the needs of a growing business by providing more resources, the public cloud has some limitations. For example, Google Drive provides you 5GB of storage space (and 10GB for your Gmail inbox) for free. But if you want more (they go up to 16TB) you need to pay for it on a monthly basis. For a growing business this may seem unnecessary when you want to save as much money as you can to survive and be profitable.
Private Cloud
The private cloud is a software system that is created solely for the use of a certain business or organization and its employees. It is either managed internally by the company itself or by a third-party that hosts the software. With private cloud you can buy software on an as-needed basis and can include messaging services, content distribution
Security is of a much better quality with private cloud than with public cloud. In the case of a public cloud system, the host has access to your company’s information (even though it may not be something that you are aware of or notice) while the private cloud allow determination of the users that will have access, as well as viewing and editing rights
Hybrid Cloud
The hybrid cloud’s name says it all. It is the composition of two or more cloud computing types. For example, it may be a combination of both private and public cloud solutions, or adding all of the qualities of private, public and community clouds.
As always there are both benefits and drawbacks to this solution. Having a public cloud as a companion to a private cloud and vice versa allows for a back-up plan in case either one of the systems should fail to meet requirements.
There is a greater consideration regarding cost as private cloud is already expensive on its own but adding public cloud (which no doubt would have to include a large capacity with a fee attached) will increase the cost. But the difference may be slight if the capacity chosen from the public cloud is kept to a free option and it only serves as an option for individual colleagues and their project documents.
Conclusion
The exact benefits will vary according to the type of cloud service being used but, fundamentally, using cloud services means companies not having to buy or maintain their own computing infrastructure.
No more buying servers, updating applications or operating systems, or decommissioning and disposing of hardware or software when it is out of date, as it is all taken care of by the supplier. For commodity applications, such as email, it can make sense to switch to a cloud provider, rather than rely on in-house skills.
A company that specializes in running and securing these services is likely to have better skills and more experienced staff than a small business could afford to hire, so cloud services may be able to deliver a more secure and efficient service to end users.
Using cloud services means companies can move faster on projects and test out concepts without lengthy procurement and big upfront costs, because firms only pay for the resources they consume.
